Then along came To The Elephant Graveyard, by a young English journalist living in India named Tarquin Hall. It has the same happy combination, this time taking place on dry land. The book is not scheduled to be published until Sept. 30, but the advance uncorrected proof I read already has been passed from hand to hand, and nobody has been able to put this one down either.

A correspondent for the Associated Press in New Delhi, the 31-year-old Hall already had written a book about his adventures among ìmercenaries, missionaries and misfitsî at the age of 23. He was sitting in his office, trying to find a good story which would take him out into the field, when he came across a newspaper article that said the government of Assam, an ancient kingdom on Indiaís northeast frontier, had issued an order for the destruction of a rogue elephant which had killed 38 people. The government was seeking a hunter brave and skillful enough to kill the beast. The prime candidate was Dinesh Choudhury of the city of Guwahati. Mr. Choudhury was the leading elephant hunter in all of India, and considered quite an expert on the animal.

Knowing a good assignment when he saw one, Hall received permission from his editor in London, found out that Assam, usually rife with violent insurgency on the part of rebels, had calmed down somewhat, and booked the next flight to Guwahati to meet Mr. Choudhury.

Thus begins one of the most rousing adventure stories youíre likely to come across. It is full of experiences and characters whom you will have trouble believing exist outside of movies. There is the British tea planter in Assam, still living on his estate with his wife years after his kind has become obsolete. Without recognizing the sun has set on the Empire, they have tea at four and gins and tonics on the verandah after dinner. At least Hall has a hot shower there in the midst of his forest trek.

There is also Mr. Choudhury, a gentle and educated man who has made a lifelong study of the Asian elephant he is destined to kill. He is a most reluctant hunter, and respects his prey as much as he trusts it will respect him. His relationship with the young reporter is that of teacher and student, as he tells Hall about the history and psyche of Indiaís most famous animal.

Then there is the rogue himself. Perhaps a better comparison between books would include Moby Dick; in each story, the animals are the largest and most dangerous that could be confronted by the hunters. They ó the beasts ó soon take on mythological proportions in the readerís mind. As the great white whale can represent a combination of pure evil and the Emersonian quest for transcendental knowledge, so the rogue soon becomes a puzzling, and terrifying, enigma to hunters and readers alike.

Revered to the point of being godlike by many Indians, elephants hold a special place in religion and tradition. This one, however, has become a cold-blooded killer. In the bookís best written scenes, the elephant seems to recognize some poor victims as individuals, and stalks them before killing them in ways so gruesome he seems almost human.

Hall writes in clear, journalistic prose that never gets in the way of the tale. But he also provides fascinating stories about India and its elephants. Often, Mr. Choudhury and his forest service rangers had to brush away villagers who insisted on worshipping the hunting partyís own elephants, strewing flower petals in the animalsí path. It is small wonder. According to those who know best, elephants are extremely intelligent animals with distinct personalities and great capacity for understanding.

And, yes, they never forget; it is the wholly human obsession with painful memories which apparently drives the doomed rogue to become a killer of men. Armed with modern weapons, the hunters still are at the mercy of the elephant as they plunge deeper into the forest in his pursuit.

As for the famed elephant graveyard of the title, Hall does manage to find it. In the perfect ending to an almost perfect book, the author stands on a hill and gazes at what he has searched for during the entire adventure ó the place where elephants go to die. It is a scene that will not be forgotten quickly by the reader.